(The Center Square) – There’s no shortage of frustration when it comes to stalled negotiations over funding for public transit in Pennsylvania. Of the plans proffered – using sales taxes versus dipping into the transit trust fund – neither has bipartisan support. There’s a road not yet taken, however. In the days before both chambers convened to approve their respective solutions, Republican Sen. Gene Yaw, of Williamsport, and Democratic Sen. Anthony Williams, of Philadelphia, suggested solving ...
Aug 16, 2025•13 min•Ep. 419
(The Center Square) - Officials have urged the press and community not to speculate about the cause of a deadly explosion at a U.S. Steel plant in Clairton, near Pittsburgh, on Monday. Gov. Josh Shapiro joined county officials, union representatives, and U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt to discuss the incident in Allegheny County Tuesday. County Executive Sara Innamorato expressed gratitude to the dozens of local agencies who responded to the incident. Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com...
Aug 15, 2025•11 min•Ep. 418
(The Center Square) - Pennsylvania is stuck in what seems to be an ever-deepening mental health care crisis, exacerbated by staffing shortages across the industry. To address it, two senators held a meeting of the chamber's Majority Policy Committee in Danville on Tuesday, inviting more than a dozen experts to participate in a roundtable on the subject. Sens. Dave Argall, R-Mahanoy City, and Lynda Schlegel Culver, R-Shamokin Dam, heard testimony from mental health care providers, prison wardens,...
Aug 09, 2025•7 min•Ep. 417
(The Center Square) - House Democrats met in front of Abraham Lincoln High School in Northeast Philadelphia to urge Senate Republicans to return to Harrisburg to pass funding for the state’s mass transit systems, a sticking point in the state's budget negotiations. Without dedicated funding, SEPTA is poised to cut services on the Aug. 24, an act that will impact more than 10,000 students who rely on transit to get to and from school every day, which begins the following day. Senate Republicans h...
Aug 08, 2025•13 min•Ep. 416
(The Center Square) – Pittsburgh’s “AI Strike Force” is aiming high to define and become a global leader in physical AI, the space in which artificial intelligence meets material goods in the form of robotics, defense systems, transportation, and more. In Harrisburg on Monday, the Strike Force's executive director Joanna Doven spoke to the urgency of the moment, echoing state leaders including Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sen. Dave McCormick’s aspirations to make Pennsylvania a leader in a new era of t...
Aug 02, 2025•8 min•Ep. 415
(The Center Square) – The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency announced upgrades to its flood warning and observation system on Wednesday. The Pennsylvania Integrated Flood Warning and Observation System is known as IFLOWS 2.0 and will include the installation of 30 new weather stations across the state. Most of these will be placed on school properties where K-12 students will incorporate the data into their weather curricula. Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com/franklin-news-f...
Aug 01, 2025•4 min•Ep. 414
(The Center Square) - The congressional budget resolution passed early this month struck a blow, many say, to the renewable energy industry by phasing out tax credits for wind and solar energy. Clean energy advocates, however, say that even in the face of energy costs projected to rise as much as 74% over the next 10 years, that there’s reason to be optimistic. While Harry Godfrey of Advanced Energy United admitted that the rollbacks will cost jobs in manufacturing and on specific energy project...
Jul 26, 2025•11 min•Ep. 413
(The Center Square) – Pennsylvania’s full-time legislature wastes taxpayer money and diminishes public participation, according to a new proposal from state Rep. Stephanie Borowicz. Pennsylvania’s 253 elected officials – 203 in the House and 50 in the Senate – make over $106,000 annually, second only to New York and California. It’s also just one of 10 states that maintain a full-time legislature. Before 1968, the commonwealth was part-time. Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com/frankl...
Jul 25, 2025•10 min•Ep. 412
(The Center Square) - As the state still struggles to find agreement with its own budget, some legislators are urging action to protect residents of the commonwealth from the expected fallout of the Congressional budget resolution bill that passed earlier this month. One such measure is a bipartisan bill establishing requirements for hospital financial assistance which passed the House in May. It currently awaits consideration in the Senate. The bill would ensure patients have a better understan...
Jul 20, 2025•7 min•Ep. 411
(The Center Square) - Two weeks late, the Pennsylvania House has taken a major step forward in passing a new state budget. House Bill 1330 passed the House with a vote of 105-97, with three Republicans voting alongside Democrats and one member on leave. Republican Appropriations chair Jim Struzzi of Indiana called the bill a necessary step forward given the delays in the legislature, but he urged his caucus to vote against the bill. Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com/franklin-news-f...
Jul 19, 2025•7 min•Ep. 410
(The Center Square) – Artificial intelligence infrastructure coming to Pennsylvania includes $90 billion from tech giants, energy companies and investment firms betting on the state’s rich power supply. And it’s got the seal of approval from top federal officials, including U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., and President Donald Trump. In recent years, Pennsylvania’s reputation as an energy exporter and its easy access to power plants have risen its profile within investment circles hoping to capi...
Jul 18, 2025•10 min•Ep. 409
(The Center Square) - Responding to concerns that President Donald Trump could use the Insurrection Act to deploy troops domestically, Congressman Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., introduced a bill to limit presidential power on Tuesday. The bill entitled the Insurrection Act of 2025 would update the original 1807 legislation to clarify and narrow the circumstances in which it could be used. Updates would state explicitly that it’s a measure of last resort. Invoking the act would require prior consultation...
Jul 13, 2025•9 min•Ep. 408
(The Center Square) - On Monday, the House passed a resolution designating September as International Underground Railroad Month. It received near-unanimous support from the chamber, 199-4. The no votes stood out. The Underground Railroad is an integral part of U.S. history, particularly important to the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which served as an abolitionist state and is home to more than 60 sites on the National Park Service’s Network to Freedom list. Passing the resolution would seem no...
Jul 12, 2025•12 min•Ep. 407
(The Center Square) – A Coca-Cola driver in Houston, Pa., says leaders of his local Teamsters union threatened to fire him if he didn’t join the organization and pay dues. And now, he’s taking them to federal court. Hammaker says Teamsters Local 585 violated his constitutional right to opt out of membership and avoid paying dues that can support political activities. However, the union contract stipulated that joining was mandatory. Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com/franklin-news-f...
Jul 11, 2025•11 min•Ep. 406
(The Center Square) - At long last, it looks like Pennsylvania’s prohibition of Sunday hunting will end. The passage of House Bill 1431 in concurrence with the Senate signals a new era of game in the commonwealth. Proponents of the prohibition maintain that a traditional day off should still be observed, while opponents maintain that the majority of hunters work throughout the week, limiting their opportunities to engage with the sport. Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com/franklin-ne...
Jul 06, 2025•5 min•Ep. 405
(The Center Square) – It’s three strikes for the divided Pennsylvania legislature and its leader, Gov. Josh Shapiro. Monday came and went without a budget deal hammered out. The new fiscal year begins Tuesday. And it’s the third time in as many years that it's been late with no clear end in sight. For now, the missed deadline doesn’t mean much. Most services and offices will function throughout the summer, though tardiness is becoming a pattern. In 2023, Shapiro’s first year in office, parts of ...
Jul 05, 2025•9 min•Ep. 404
(The Center Square) - In a victory for President Donald Trump, the University of Pennsylvania agreed Tuesday to resolve what the Department of Education deemed to be a violation of Title IX by allowing a transgender woman to participate in women’s swimming. The violation occurred prior to Trump’s executive order “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” issued in February of this year, with swimmer Lia Thomas winning the 2022 NCAA Division I Championship for the 500-yard freestyle. Thomas was in compl...
Jul 03, 2025•10 min•Ep. 403
(The Center Square) - The “bioindustrial revolution” is coming. Pennsylvania lawmakers want the commonwealth to be at its forefront. Gov. Josh Shapiro has made the biotech industry a core focus of his work in the governor’s office. Other lawmakers in the state are now doubling down on that commitment. Last week, U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-West Chester, joined the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology on its Pennsylvania stop for the Biotech Across America Tour. Support this p...
Jun 29, 2025•9 min•Ep. 402
(The Center Square) - It’s a big achievement–Pennsylvania won out over other states for the largest capital investment in its history, $20 billion from Amazon for data centers and technology infrastructure. Though the project promises to create over 1,200 jobs, at least initially, not everyone is happy about where things are going. At the June press conference when Gov. Josh Shapiro announced the historic influx of capital, there was a protest nearby. One reporter asked Gov. Josh Shapiro for his...
Jun 28, 2025•8 min•Ep. 401
(The Center Square) - It’s budget season, and Pennsylvania legislators are feeling the squeeze of potential cuts from the federal government. So are the state’s leading universities. Yet, as the system that has made the commonwealth a destination of choice for medical and academic research is transforming, lawmakers maintain a split focus on the state’s higher education. On one hand, the state is responsible for the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, or PASSHE, a network of 14 univer...
Jun 27, 2025•9 min•Ep. 400
When it comes to higher education, taxpayers, legislators and educators on both sides of the aisle seem to agree that something is broken and the cost is too high. That’s about where the agreement ends. Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com/franklin-news-foundation/ce052532-b1e4-41c4-945c-d7ce2f52c38a?source_code=xxxxxx Read more: https://www.thecentersquare.com/pennsylvania/...
Jun 23, 2025•11 min•Ep. 399
(The Center Square) - It was an unusual day in the Pennsylvania House, but that didn’t stop leadership from shepherding a mass transit bill forward to the Senate. Neither the electronic system used to tabulate legislators’ votes nor member laptops were working, causing House Speaker Rep. Joanna McClinton, D-Philadelphia, to act according to a precedent established in 1975, in which opponents of the bill stood and were counted. The bill, proposed by Transportation chair Rep. Ed Neilson, D-Philade...
Jun 21, 2025•4 min•Ep. 398
(The Center Square) – As the ink dries on the U.S. Steel merger with Japanese competitor Nippon, one state lawmaker breathes a deep sigh of relief on behalf of thousands of workers, most of whom she’s never met. Sen. Kim Ward, the fifth-term legislator from Greensburg and the highest-ranking Republican in the upper chamber, recently told The Center Square the long fight to the finish line was a personal mission to protect the commonwealth’s legacy. As part of the merger, Nippon will invest $2.2 ...
Jun 20, 2025•7 min•Ep. 397
(The Center Square) – Home care workers said Tuesday that a $21 million proposal to increase wages and benefits isn’t just a good idea, it’s the bare minimum to keep the industry float. Most in the state earn between $13 and $14 per hour due to the Medicaid reimbursement rate. The proposal would increase salaries for participant-directed care workers who are not employed through an agency. Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com/franklin-news-foundation/ce052532-b1e4-41c4-945c-d7ce2f52c3...
Jun 15, 2025•4 min•Ep. 396
(The Center Square) - The week begins with a historic first, the largest capital investment in Pennsylvania history. Amazon’s commitment of $20 billion for data centers promises to change the state’s landscape for years to come. The first of the two centers will be built in Luzerne County and Bucks County where the projects promised to deliver at least 1,250 jobs. Speaking from the Jackson Mansion in Berwick on Monday, Gov. Josh Shapiro said the deal comes after 20 months of negotiations between...
Jun 14, 2025•6 min•Ep. 395
(The Center Square) – Gov. Josh Shapiro is in a unique position regarding the deployment of the Pennsylvania National Guard. He can consent to doing so, as he has for several federal requests since taking office two years ago, or he can decline, as he has also done during those same two years. “As part of their responsibilities, the PANG has state and federal missions and remains constantly prepared to respond to both,” said Angela Watson, communications director for the Pennsylvania Department ...
Jun 13, 2025•5 min•Ep. 394
(The Center Square) – Pennsylvanians with intellectual and developmental disabilities gathered with advocates in the Capitol on Monday to urge lawmakers to preserve Medicaid from proposed spending cuts at the federal level. In particular, the group spoke out about the importance of home and community-based supports that allow many disabled people to remain independent rather than receiving care in an institutional setting. “Without strong funding commitments, people with disabilities and the car...
Jun 08, 2025•7 min•Ep. 393
(The Center Square) – In what was billed as a “Senate showdown,” Fox News hosted a congenial discussion between U.S. senators from Pennsylvania and self-described friends Dave McCormick and John Fetterman. The two men discussed points of agreement, like confronting Iran and Iranian-backed militant groups. They also discussed points of divergence like the cuts to Medicaid proposed in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, as the resolution is known. Fetterman, a first-term Democrat, said he’d be voting ...
Jun 07, 2025•5 min•Ep. 392
(The Center Square) – What’s next for U.S. Steel after its $14 billion merger? It’s either the golden age or a clever mirage, depending on who gets asked. That’s because the final details, while still scant, don’t satisfy critics about the iconic Pittsburgh company’s new partnership with Japanese-owned Nippon Steel. What is known is that on Friday, President Donald Trump took a victory lap in West Mifflin to celebrate the agreement, surrounded by mill workers, labor unions and state and congress...
Jun 06, 2025•7 min•Ep. 391
(The Center Square) – Whether it’s gas or “green,” most Pennsylvanians just want affordable electricity. This according to a new statewide poll from Public Opinion Strategies released Thursday, which found that three-quarters of respondents worry about access to affordable electricity in Pennsylvania and nationwide. Another 78% said their household energy bills have risen over the last two years as part of an inflationary trend that some attribute to uncertain state and federal government regula...
Jun 01, 2025•9 min•Ep. 390
